WHEN YOU GET TO THE TRICKY GIFTS, JUST FOLLOW THESE TIPS…

AWKWARD-SHAPED PRESENTS

There are two brilliant hacks for awkward shapes; the first is to use a natural material such as hessian to create a loose package around the gift.

Spruce it up with colourful fabric ribbons and tags. The second is to use your wrapping paper to make a gift bag (there are heaps of video tutorials) and to insert a piece of card into the base of the bag to help things look professional.

OVERSIZED GIFTS

These need to be wrapped in stages and using a lot of paper. Work your way down the item with new sheets of paper, ensuring that every piece is covered. You can then use ribbons to disguise any mismatched seams or edges. It might work out cheaper to buy a giant gift sack (below) that you can reuse again and again.

SMALL PACKAGES

Sometimes the best things really do come in small packages – or no package at all, which makes wrapping a bit tricky. In such cases, a layer of tissue paper is your friend. For something really teeny, stuff it in a loo-roll tube with some coloured tissue paper, wrap just the roll and then tie a ribbon at each end with excess paper sticking out, so you’ve created a giant sweet.

RECTANGLE-SHAPED PRESENT

Well done you for going for the most straightforward shoebox option. Once you’ve secured your paper around the length of

SPHERICAL ITEMS

If you’re giving a totally spherical gift, such as a football, use a bowl. Place your measured paper flat over the top of the bowl, then slowly place the gift on top of the paper and lower it into the bowl. The paper will fold up around the gift, and you can secure it in place with a ribbon at the top. No tape needed! the gift, flatten down the excess on each end. Fold each corner of the excess back on itself so it touches the main gift and you’re left with a triangle. Then fold and fix the triangle to the main gift, et voilà.

POSTING SOMETHING FRAGILE

There’s no such thing as too much bubble-wrap. Layer up and use a padded Jiffy bag, ensuring you have the big “FRAGILE” stickers on each side of the package. Doesn’t hurt to add a “thank you” as a note of appreciation for the tired posties working through the season.

SOMETHING FOR A CHILD

For this one, it really doesn’t matter how neat you are. The frenzy of a child ripping into a present is such an exciting part of the Christmas celebrations, so give them a lot to rip off! Add extra bows and make edges tricky with a lot of sellotape so there’s plenty of time to take some sneaky-cute photos of the unwrapping excitement.

A LUXURIOUS GIFT

If you want to go glam, then ditch the patterned paper. One single colour with a contrasting ribbon neatly tied around it will do the trick. Or if you have a lot of items, create your own Christmas hamper for something really special.